What Do You Mean I Can't Cancel It?
by Boo2020
Summary: When the Gatewater Imperial Hotel won't let Maya cancel the reservations for the honeymoon suite that Pearl had made, she decides they should use the room instead. Written as soon as I finished playing Justice For All.
1. Chapter 1

"What do you mean I can't cancel it?!" Maya said, leaning over the counter where the front desk agent of the Gatewater Imperial Hotel was sitting. She looked behind her discreetly, where Phoenix was standing near the waiting area, talking to Detective Gumshoe and Will Powers. Pearl was holding onto the bottom of Phoenix's jacket, looking as if she was listening intently to the conversation, though Maya knew she probably didn't understand most of it. Phoenix had no idea what Pearl had done yet, and Maya was attempting to smooth this over before he caught wind of it.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Since you're booked in for tonight, we have to charge you, since it's impossible to fill the room now," he said, using his best customer appeasing voice.

Maya dialled her pouty face up to ten. "You don't understand. My little cousin booked the room! She didn't have permission!"

He raised an eyebrow, then looked at his computer. "It says here the room was booked for a Mr. and Mrs. Wright."

Maya felt herself flushing. "No, no, I am not his wife! We're just friends. See, my cousin, she thinks we're in a relationship or something - but we're not! - so she booked the room for us in case we wanted to use it, but we really can't afford it! He'll kill me if I don't get this room cancelled."

The attendant made a show of typing something into the computer, then looked back up at Maya. "I'm very sorry, ma'am, I won't be able to cancel the room. If you'd like, you can pay it off in increments. We don't do this for everyone, but we're trying to meet you halfway here. I assure you it is worth it. It's not just a room, it's a whole suite, kitchen and living area included, plus you'll have access to everything else the hotel offers."

She took a deep breath, held it for a second, and then let it out. Normally she didn't feel bad about spending Phoenix's money, but that was for a burger or two, this was a honeymoon suite and it was _expensive_. Then again, she had spent the last past three days being knocked unconscious and locked up, and she was sure Phoenix hadn't had much sleep after working so hard to save her. This could be good for the both of them.

The attendant waited while all of this ran through her head. She supposed there was nothing she could do, so she finally nodded. "Alright, fine."

"Wonderful!" the attendant said, much more lively now that he knew he was getting his payment, eventually. He handed over the key card to her, in a little cardboard jacket with "1015 - Wright" written on it. She shoved it into the sleeve of her outfit and then worked out a payment plan with the attendant. She already had Phoenix's credit card number memorized, so she was able to avoid asking him for it. When they were finished, she put on her best face before turning away from the counter.

Her 'best face' disappeared as soon as she saw Phoenix striding towards her. Detective Gumshoe and Mr. Powers were gone now, and Phoenix looked _mad_. Pearl was walking beside him, her usual smiling face replaced by a wide eyed look. When he reached her, he took her by the arm, and led her away from the counter.

"You and your _friend_ have a nice time, ma'am!" the attendant called after them, putting emphasis on the word 'friend'. She felt Phoenix's grip tighten on her arm just a little. When they were safely away from any other people, he turned to her.

"Pearls here tells me she booked a honeymoon suite for us. Please, Maya. Please tell me that attendant wasn't talking to us," he said.

"Um… uh…" she grinned at him.

"Maya! You know I can't afford that!"

"He said you could pay it off in increments! It's all taken care of already, don't you worry, Nick!"

He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling in despair. "A burger I can handle. The occasional movie, sure. A honeymoon suite, though? On _my_ salary?! Even in increments it'll take me months to pay off!"

"Um, Mr. Nick?" a small voice said. Maya and Phoenix both looked down at Pearl, almost as if they had forgotten she was there. "I'm really sorry. It's my fault, I promise I'll use some money from the Fey branch family account to help you pay for it."

He crossed his arms. Normally he would be glad to accept, but asking for monetary help from a little girl felt wrong, even if it was her fault, so he shook his head. "It's alright, Pearls. Just be sure to never, _ever_ , do something like this again, okay?"

She perked right up. "I promise!"

Maya was digging in her sleeve. "What are you doing?" he asked, turning to her.

"Well, if we're going to have to pay for it, we might as well use it," she said, finally grasping the key card and pulling it out. "Tenth floor! Room 15!"

"Mayaaaa," he groaned.

"Please, Nick? It sounds really nice!"

"Fine, you can have it for the night. You deserve it."

"Wait!" she said, waving her arms. "You have to come too!"

"It's fine, really. You were the one who was kidnapped."

"And you were the one who worked so hard to save me! I can tell by looking at you that you haven't had much sleep. You deserve it just as much as I do."

Pearl was watching this exchange with bated breath. Just knowing that Mystic Maya wanted to share the room with Mr. Nick made her happy. Phoenix looked uncomfortable, like he was grasping for another excuse. Finally, he found one. "We didn't exactly pack any bags. We don't have any clean clothes or anything."

"It's only for one night! It's fine. We can go back to your apartment first thing tomorrow morning! And hotels always have soap and shampoo and towels and things like that."

He seemed to have run out of excuses, so he finally relented. "Alright," he sighed. "Pearls is going to have to come with us too. It'll be like a slumber party, right Pearls?"

She actually would have been happier leaving them alone for the night, but she had nowhere else to go, so she only nodded.

"Hey, let's stop by the gift shop first to see if they have any pajamas we can buy!" Maya said.

"Haven't you already spent enough of my money tonight?"

"We can't very well sleep in our clothes. Those are the only things we'll have to buy, I promise."

"Okay, okay." They made their way down the hall to the gift shop where they all managed to buy something to sleep in, then found the elevator.

"What does this do?" Pearl asked as they stepped in. "Don't we need to find some stairs?"

Phoenix often forgot just how little Pearl knew about the world outside of Kurain Village. She was eight years old, but it sometimes felt like she was only four or five when she asked questions about things most kids had known about since they were old enough to understand what things were. Maya knelt down to Pearl's height. "This is a lift, Pearly. It takes us to the floor we need without us having to walk up a bunch of stairs! Good thing too, I don't think Nick in his old age could make it up ten flights of stairs," Maya said, getting in her dig at him.

He frowned at her. "Actually, it's called an elevator."

"What's the difference? You need to stop judging things based on narrow-minded cultural assumptions, Nick!"

"Sure, sorry."

"How does it work?" Pearl asked.

"All we have to do is push the button with the number of the floor we want on it. Then the doors close and it takes us up to that floor."

"Do you want to push the button, Pearls?" Phoenix asked. She nodded excitedly. "Just push the button with the number 10 on it."

She reached up on tippy toes to push the button, and the elevator doors closed on them. The elevator began to move, and Pearl held onto Maya as it went up, who held onto the railing on the side of the compartment. Pearl watched the numbers on top of the door change. It only took a minute for the number 10 to appear. There was a ding, and the doors opened. She ran out into the hallway, Maya and Phoenix close behind.

"Room 15, right?" he said.

Maya nodded. "It shouldn't be too far down."

Pearl reached the door first. "Here it is, Mystic Maya!"

Phoenix stepped aside to let Maya through. "You've got the key."

She took it out of its cardboard jacket and waved it in front of the door. There was a click, and she was able to open it. She stepped inside first, looking around incredulously. "Woooow," she said. They entered into a sitting area first. There were a few chairs and a chaise lounge in front of a fireplace. There was no door into the bedroom area, and Maya had a clear view of it.

Her eyes widened when she saw the rose petals on the bed, and she found herself blushing again. She supposed she should have expected something like that in a honeymoon suite. She ran into the room as quickly as possible, and jumped onto the bed, spreading out and trying to push as many of the petals as she could onto the floor on the other side of the bed. "Wow, the bed is really huge!" she said, trying to pretend she was just excited by the size of it.

Phoenix followed her in, looking around. He didn't seem to notice the petals, or if he did he pretended not to in order to save them both some embarrassment. Besides the bed, there was a large flatscreen TV on a stand, and a door to an outdoor balcony. There was also a bottle of expensive looking champagne on the table in the room, in a bucket of ice. Maya sat up on the bed and crossed her legs, making sure her skirt covered her.

"I'll take the lounge in the other room, I guess," Phoenix said.

She felt bad taking the bed from him, but she didn't want to suggest they actually sleep in the same bed together. "Th-thanks. Are you sure you don't want it?"

He smiled, shrugging. "It certainly looks more comfortable than my bed at home, but you really do deserve it more. You didn't have a bed to sleep on at all while you were captive."

Pearl came into the room then, looking around with a huge smile on her face. "It's so nice here!" she climbed up onto the bed with Maya. Phoenix continued to look around. There was another doorway that led into an area with a fridge and a bar, and a bathroom with only a sliding door. He would have preferred a door with a lock, but he figured he could trust Maya not to walk in on him. He went back to the bedroom. "Does anyone need the bathroom? I'm going to shower."

Pearl and Maya shook their heads simultaneously, so he grabbed the pajamas he had purchased and went into the bathroom. It really did have everything. Plenty of soft, fluffy towels, shampoo, soap, body wash. There was even toothpaste and toothbrushes, and his and hers deodorant. He was tempted to steal the towels, but shook his head at himself in the mirror. That was something Maya would suggest, and if the hotel found out he was sure they would charge him even more to replace them.

Back in the bedroom, Maya had turned the TV on and was flipping through the channels. Pearl sat quietly beside her, still looking around at the room. "Mystic Maya?"

"Yeah, Pearly?" Maya said, still looking at the TV.

"I'm sorry you and Mr. Nick can't be alone tonight."

Maya put down the TV remote, the channel stopped on an infomercial for some sort of special blender. "Pearly, me and Nick aren't like that. I know you think we are, but it's just not going to happen, okay? I'm his assistant, and a friend, nothing more."

Pearl looked down at the bed. "But you seem so happy when you're around each other. And you didn't see Mr. Nick while you were missing. He was _really_ worried about you!"

"Well, we're really good friends. It's normal to worry if something bad happens to your friend."

Pearl pouted. "It didn't seem like that to me."

"Well, that's all it was. Come on, let's change before he comes back." Pearl jumped off the bed to grab her pajamas, and Maya changed into hers as well. She sat on the edge of the bed when she had finished changing and went about taking her hair down. When she was finished, she set her necklace on the bedside table, and Pearl did the same. They crawled back into the bed together, this time under the covers, propping the many pillows against the headboard so they could lean back against it. Maya went back to looking through the TV channels. After she had gone through all the channels once, she stopped on the guide that had information about the movies available for purchase. Surely, Phoenix wouldn't mind one extra thing added to the price of the room? It was just a movie, and a few more dollars wasn't that big of a deal. She absentmindedly chose one, but set the remote down before confirming it. It would be better to wait for Phoenix.

"Hey, Mystic Maya?" Pearl said from beside her.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you don't like Mr. Nick that way?"

"PEARLY! I swear you'd better stop that when he comes in here," Maya said, grabbing a pillow from behind her and smacking Pearl on the head with it. Pearl only giggled and grabbed her own pillow, throwing the covers off and jumping up into a standing position to pelt Maya in the face. Maya got to her knees, but Pearl was quicker, and delivered another blow to the side of Maya's head. She made an "oof" noise and fell back on the bed. Both of them burst into laughter.

"What's so funny in here?" Maya lifted her head enough to see Phoenix returning from the bathroom.

She grinned at him. "Pillow fight. But Pearly already won."

"Oh, okay." He had a towel over his head and was attempting to dry his hair. When he pulled it off Maya couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. "What?"

"Nothing, I just don't think I've ever seen your hair look so different."

"Ah, well…" he trailed off, noticing that Maya's hair was also different. It was missing the usual bobbles she wore. "I don't think I've ever seen you without your hair beads. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything but your spirit medium outfit."

She shrugged. "I don't sleep in it, you know." She sat up and positioned the pillows properly again. "Pearly and I were going to watch a movie, but we decided to wait for you."

Pearl jumped off the bed. "I'm going to the bathroom before it starts. Mr. Nick, get on the bed!" she demanded.

"But I'm going to sleep in the living area…"

"Well you don't have to _sleep_ in the bed, silly. The TV is in here and it's more comfortable than the floor! You can leave once the movie is over," she said, smiling and running into the bathroom.

Phoenix knew Pearl was forcing him to sit beside Maya by letting him get in first, but it was only a movie. Once it was over he could leave them and go back to the lounge in the other room. Maya had already crawled back under the blanket and was sitting with her back against the headboard again. He cleared his throat. "Do you want anything to drink?"

She thought for a moment. "Do they have any soda?"

"Isn't it a little late for soda?"

"Only old people think that, Nick!" she said. He rolled his eyes and headed into the kitchen area to look. "Check to see if they have any food!" she called after him. She had just had her fill at that feast, but if he had mentioned that she would have said that eating such a large meal earlier only took more of her energy, causing her to be hungry now. Not that it made sense, but in her mind it did.

"Uh, they have some peanuts?" he called. "Do you want them?"

"If it's food, bring it to me!"

He grabbed a soda for Maya and Pearl, and a glass of water for himself, and brought them back, setting them on the bedside table. "Here are your nuts, you nut," he said, throwing the package to Maya. "You'd need to order room service for anything better." She looked up at him expectantly. "You're _not_ ordering room service." She frowned and set the package on her bedside table without opening it. Pearl came back at that moment, a look of disappointment passing over her face when she saw that Phoenix was still standing.

"The movie is about to start," she said, pushing on his leg. She was strong for such a little girl, so he relented and finally crawled onto the bed and under the covers, moving into the middle. He kept a respectable few inches between Maya and himself. Pearl shut the overhead light off and got in after, sitting close enough to Phoenix that she could lean on him if she got tired. The only other light in the room came from the lamp on the bedside table, and it was dull.

"Maya, did you by chance add this to the room's bill?" Phoenix said as she lifted the remote to confirm the movie.

"Possibly," she answered, turning her head to him. "What's a few extra dollars?"

"A few extra burgers you won't get to eat."

"You're so mean, Nick," she said, pouting.

"You're the one who keeps spending my money without permission."

"Actually, Pearly is the one who _really_ spent your money this time."

"That is true." There was a lull in the conversation as the movie started. "What's this movie about anyway?" he said.

Maya shrugged. "It's just a romantic comedy, I think. I've seen a few commercials for it on TV and it looks funny. And Pearly likes these kinds of movies, don't you Pearly?"

"Absolutely!" she answered enthusiastically.

They were quiet again as it started. Pearl was enraptured by the movie right away, always a sucker for anything romantic. Phoenix found himself yawning. He was never one for those romance movies, they were usually boring in his opinion. Maya was trying to pay attention to the movie, but Pearl's words from earlier kept playing through her head. She had never thought about Phoenix that way before, but after all of Pearl's comments, it was in her head. It didn't help that he was sitting so close to her. A blush rose on her cheeks again and she shifted slightly. He looked at her when he felt her move. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Hey, Mr. Nick?" Pearl spoke up. "Since Mystic Maya isn't eating them, can you pass those peanuts over here?"

"Sure, Pearls," he said. He reached across Maya, completely forgetting about her personal space, to grab the package from the table. Maya pressed herself back into the pillows behind her, trying to distance herself from him. She could smell him, and fresh out of the shower, he smelled really good. She was grateful for the darkness in the room, it hid the red her whole face had become. "Sorry, Maya," he said as he pulled back, handing the peanuts over to Pearl and settling back against the pillows again.

They were quiet for almost half an hour, in which time Maya managed to calm herself down, reminding herself that this was the same dorky Phoenix she had always known. She was his assistant, and his friend, and nothing more. She still wasn't paying much attention to the movie, her thoughts had now turned to her time in captivity. It had only been a few days, but it was still a scary few days. She hadn't doubted that Phoenix would manage to save her if it was in his ability to do so, it was the things that were out of his control that she had been worried about. A kidnapper could promise not to kill someone, and then kill them anyway, and that's what had scared her the most. But things had worked out, thankfully. Thanks to Pearly and Mr. Edgeworth and Detective Gumshoe, and Nick, she was safe.

She turned her head slightly to look at him, hoping he wouldn't notice. He was still awake, focused on the movie now. Pearly was also wide awake still, and Maya knew she wouldn't go to sleep until the movie was over, no matter how tired she got.

Maya leaned over slightly, and tugged on his sleeve. He looked down at her, leaning towards her as well, closing the small gap that was still between them so their shoulders were touching. "What is it?" he whispered to her, trying not to disturb Pearl's enjoyment of the movie by talking too loudly.

"Thank you, Nick," she said quietly, her face close to his so that he could hear her. "Thank you for saving me."

"You've already said that, Maya. I'm just glad you're okay."

"I know. I feel like I can't say it enough, though. And then you even let us keep this room… You're so nice, Nick."

"I thought I was mean?" She made a pouty face and he smiled. "Thanks, I guess I am pretty nice."

She nudged him with her shoulder, but he ignored her and turned his attention back to the movie. She watched him for another minute, and he turned back to her. "Why are you staring at me?" he said.

This time Pearl did hear, and looked over. Neither of them noticed her, they were too absorbed in their own conversation. Pearl strained to hear, but they were mumbling too quietly for her to understand any of it.

"Um… I'm just surprised you like this sort of movie, that's all."

He shrugged. "It's not usually my type of thing, but at least it's not Steel Samurai related."

"You love Steel Samurai, just admit it. Even your ringtone is the Steel Samurai theme."

"Because you stole my phone and wouldn't give it back until I let you change the ringtone."

"Well your ringtone was boring."

"It's a business phone, it doesn't have to be special."

"Well… You could've changed it back, but you haven't," she said, a triumphant look on her face.

"You got me there," he sighed.

"So you do like it, I knew it."

"It can be amusing sometimes," he finally admitted.

She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. On the other side of Phoenix, Pearl was still trying to hear the conversation. She hadn't heard anything they had said, but Maya's giggle gave her some hope. She tried to keep her head straight, but Maya and Phoenix were paying her no attention, and she couldn't help keeping her eyes trained on them instead of the TV.

"Hey, Nick…" Maya said, sitting up a bit, sounding a bit more serious again.

"What now?"

Before she chickened out, she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled him over to place a very quick kiss on his cheek. She pulled back right away, simultaneously pushing him back into his sitting position away from her. She crossed her arms, her face burning. Pearl had watched this whole exchange and was now beside herself, covering her mouth partially in shock and partially to hold back the happy squeal she so badly wanted to let out.

Phoenix only sat in shock. He lifted his hand to the spot her lips had touched. "W-What was that?" He wasn't whispering anymore.

"Your last thank you. And don't be getting any ideas, it was purely a platonic, friendly kiss." Maya on the other hand, was keeping her voice low, as if that would make her less embarrassed. "Now let's watch the rest of this movie."

"Um… okay." He cleared his throat. "Thanks…" With that they turned back to the movie, and Pearl turned her attention back to it as well. She didn't need to say anything now, and she didn't really want them to know she had been watching. Neither of them had noticed her at all.

The room was quiet for the rest of the movie. The main characters ended up together after a series of ridiculous situations that only brought them closer together, it ended, and the credits started to roll. Pearl started to say something to Phoenix and Maya, but when she looked over she saw that they were already asleep. Maya was against him, her head on his shoulder, and Phoenix was leaning into her, head resting against hers. His right arm and her left were laying on top of the blanket, and her arm had ended up crossed over his. Their hands were so close together they might as well have been holding hands.

Pearl smiled to herself and as quietly as she could, slipped out from under the blanket and off of the bed. There was no need to wake Phoenix if he was already asleep, and she was sure he secretly wanted to sleep in that bed anyway. She turned the TV off and then went to the wardrobe in the room and found an extra blanket, then grabbed the pillow she had been leaning against off of the bed and went into the sitting area to set up her bed on the chaise lounge that Phoenix had said he would sleep on. Before laying down to sleep, she went back to the bedroom and unplugged the alarm clock. She took it back to the living area, found an outlet and plugged it in, setting the alarm early. She wanted to make sure she was awake to see their reactions when they woke up together in the morning.

She climbed onto the chaise lounge, a perfect bed for her small body, and fell asleep smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

Phoenix woke up the next morning with something wrapped around his chest so tightly he could scarcely breath. When he opened his eyes, squinting against the sunlight streaming in through the open curtains, he saw the hotel room and Maya beside him, and remembered the night before. He groaned. _Of course_ they had fallen asleep together. He could never make it through a whole movie if they started it after 8 PM, he fell asleep every time. How could he have thought watching a movie _in bed_ would make that any less likely to happen?

Maya had a death grip on him, and it wasn't very comfortable. She had turned onto her left side and had flung her right arm over his chest. He was quite broad, so she had squished herself right up against his side in order to reach all the way across, and was squeezing him like a teddy bear.

He shifted a little, trying not to disturb her sleep too much but hoping that the movement would at least make her release him. She only mumbled something incoherent, and snuggled in even closer to him. He wriggled his right arm, which was trapped between their bodies. She barely flinched, but he did manage to pull it out from between them. This only provided her with more room, and she nudged in even closer, under his arm.

He sighed, putting his arm around her, since there was nowhere else for it now. He turned his head to the bedside table, hoping to look at the time, but it was empty. He could have sworn there was an alarm clock there last night. Judging by the sunlight through the windows it had to be midmorning already. He mentally reprimanded himself for not closing the curtains the night before. If not for that he might have still been sleeping, and maybe Maya would have woken before him. There was no way he was getting back to sleep now, not with the sun and Maya's vice grip on him. All he could do was lay there, trapped.

At least, that's what he told himself, that he was too nice to disturb her sleep by trying to get up, and not the fact that he didn't necessarily _mind_ being this close to her. It wasn't like they had never touched before, they did spent most of their time together and Maya regularly used him as a punching bag, a shield, sometimes a pillow if they were watching TV on the office couch. She had even jumped on his back a few times, usually in unprofessional situations when he wasn't expecting it, which usually ended up embarrassing both of them. She did it once while it was raining because she insisted it was easier for both of them to get under the one umbrella if she held it over them while he carried her, but he was pretty sure she was just tired of walking after their investigation that day. But this now, laying in bed together, was more intimate, more personal, and still he didn't mind.

He was absentmindedly running his fingers through some strands of her hair when she made a snuffling noise and squirmed against him.

"Mmf… Nick," she mumbled.

"Are you finally awake?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

She didn't answer him, instead her fist gripped into his shirt and she let out a long, low moan. His eyes widened and he stared down at her under his arm, hoping she didn't make anymore noises like that. He noticed her smiling then, and narrowed his eyes. "Maya, are you messing with me?" he was a little louder now. If she was purposely trying to make him feel awkward, it was working.

She still didn't react to his voice, but let out a long "mmmm" noise instead. He was starting to feel very awkward, and decided it really was time to get up, even if it meant waking her. He grabbed the wrist of the arm she had draped over him and pulled it away from him, shaking her hand a little so she would let go of the fabric of his shirt.

She suddenly jerked her arm out of his grasp, and thrust it at his face. "NO, NICK! IT'S MINE!"

"Ooow, Maya!" he said, shaking her this time. Her eyes popped open right away, and she looked up at him. He had his hand over his nose, eyes closed in pain.

"Wh-What happened?" she said. She noticed how close she was and shifted away from him, lifting herself onto her elbow.

He rolled away from her and sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. "You just hit me! What the heck were you dreaming about?"

Her eyes glazed over. "The most delicious hamburger I've ever tasted. You tried to take it for yourself, but I wouldn't let you."

"Yeah, you certainly wouldn't."

"Sorry." She crawled across the bed to his side. "It's not bleeding, you're fine, you big baby." He made a face at her and she smiled brightly. "I guess we fell asleep during the movie, huh?" she said. She didn't want to make this into something awkward, especially not after kissing him last night. It wasn't even a _real_ kiss, but she still felt a little weird about it.

"We sure did. And Pearls didn't wake me. Sorry if it was weird."

She waved a hand. "Nah. I trust you. Did I… cling to you?"

"Yeah, you kind of did."

"Sorry. This is kind of embarrassing to admit but I still sleep with a teddy bear, it's one Mia gave me for a birthday when I was younger, so it's sentimental. It reminds me of her. I guess you were just the alternative for the night."

"It was fine, just be careful with that teddy bear. You might squeeze the stuffing out of it one night."

"It was that bad, huh?"

"Like a boa constrictor."

"Don't compare me to a snake," she said, slapping his arm. "Hey, where's Pearly anyway?"

"She must have slept on the lounge chair in the other room, where I was going to," he said, getting up. Maya followed him off of the bed and into the sitting room, where they found Pearl still fast asleep. Phoenix noticed the alarm clock on the floor right away, but he had no idea why she needed it. He knelt down and gently shook a shoulder. "Pearls, we have to get ready to leave soon."

She yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes. When she saw Phoenix and Maya leaning over her, her eyes immediately went to the alarm clock. She scrambled out of her makeshift bed and grabbed it, clicking over to the alarm. She smacked herself in the forehead with her palm. "I accidentally set it for 8 PM instead of AM," she mumbled to herself. It was currently a little after 10 AM.

"Why did you have the alarm set so early? There wasn't something you wanted to do today, was there?" Maya asked.

Pearl shook her head. "No. It was nothing, never mind. Did you and Mr. Nick sleep well?" she said, a smug smile on her face.

Phoenix gave her a disapproving look, but couldn't deny the fact that the bed had been very comfortable. He was really going to miss it. "Yeah, actually, I did."

"Me too! It's going to be hard getting used to my bed again, this one was way better," Maya said excitedly.

"But this was a one time thing. No more fancy hotels for us, unless you're paying. Anyways, we should get dressed and head down for breakfast. Our checkout time is a few hours away, so we can make it."

"You're going to pay for breakfast?!" Maya said, excited again.

"It comes with the room, so take advantage of it. Plus," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, "it's an all-you-can-eat buffet."

Maya gasped. "The best kind of buffet!" She hurried back into the bedroom. "I'm taking a shower! Don't come in!"

When the shower had started running, Phoenix turned to Pearl. "Hey, Pearls?"

She looked at him, hoping he wasn't mad that she hadn't woken him up last night. Instead she found him staring at the floor, not able to look her in the eye. "Thanks. For not waking us up, I mean. But don't tell Maya I said that, she might get the wrong idea. The bed was just comfortable, that's all."

Pearl grinned. "You are welcome! Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," she said, smirking and running into the bedroom. He didn't like how she said that, but he still felt he could trust her.

He followed her back into the bedroom and opened the door that led to the patio, letting some fresh air in. The view they had was pretty amazing, and he found himself a little disappointed they hadn't used this area the night before, during the night when the city would have been lit up. During the day, it was just a normal view of downtown. When he went back inside he noticed the rose petals on that side of the bed. Maya must have pushed them off before he could see them the night before. The bottle of champagne was still unopened, floating in its bucket on the table, the ice now melted.

"Pearl, do you mind heading back into the other room so I can get dressed? It'll be quicker than waiting for Maya."

"Sure thing, Mr. Nick," she said. She grabbed her own clothes and headed into the sitting area and around the corner to get dressed herself.

He found his clothes and went about getting dressed. He wasn't paying attention to the noise in the bathroom, so didn't hear the shower turn off, and didn't notice when Maya came back into the room. She stopped mid step when she saw him. He was facing away from her, so she could only see him from behind. He had one arm in a sleeve and was in the process of pulling his other through, and all she got a glimpse of was his shoulder and the back of his neck. She was grateful she hadn't seen more than that, as her face was already red. But she couldn't look away, and when he was finishing buttoning the shirt he turned around, physically jumping in fright when he saw her. She was already dressed in her spirit medium outfit, her hair back in its usual style.

"M-Maya!"

She swallowed, a goofy grin spreading over her face. If her face was red, his was redder.

"How long were you standing there?" he said, not able to meet her eyes. Instead he walked around the bed, found his suit jacket and pulled that on hurriedly too. In his haste he totally forgot about his tie.

"Not long enough, apparently," she said. The fact that he was so embarrassed somehow made her feel better, and now she just wanted to tease him about it, but he only looked at her, unamused.

"Let's go, I'm starving," he said.

"Aren't you forgetting this?" she said, picking up his tie from where he had left it, and hanging it in front of his face.

He grabbed it from her hands and stuffed it in his pocket, not even bothering to put it on. He wasn't sure he'd even be able to tie it properly at the moment. "Pearls! Are you dressed?" he called.

She came around the corner. "I'm ready to eat!"

"I can't wait!" Maya said. Phoenix opened the door, holding it open for the two girls. Together they went down to the dining hall where Maya ate her fill, heading back to the buffet at least three different times.

When they were finished they went back to the room to tidy it up, not wanting to leave a total mess for the cleaning staff, then headed back down to the lobby to check out.

"I trust you two had a good stay?" the man at the counter said. He was different from the one Maya had spoken to the night before.

Phoenix was tapping his fingers impatiently on the counter, Maya beside him. "Yeah, it was great," he said. "We just need to check out now."

"Name?"

"Wright."

"Okay. You're checked out. You and your wife have a lovely day today and congratulations again," the man said.

Phoenix's lips tightened, but he he huffed out a hurried "thank you" and turned away from the counter. Maya followed after him, face red, and Pearl behind her. But Pearl was smiling.


End file.
